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ALI JABBAR

Ali Jabbar was born in Iraq in 1963. he is Danish citizen.

Ali is a sculptor, painter and designer. He studied at the Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and Design School in Copenhagen. He participated in 85 group exhibitions in Denmark, Iraq, Sweden, Austria, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, USA, Iran, Spain, Turkey, Czech, Austri, and Norway. In total, Jabbar have done 11 solo exhibitions in Denmark, Germany, Jordan, Spain and London: at the KM2Gallery in Hamburg, 1994, the Torre Vella Museum, Salou, 2002, the Herning Art Museum in 2005 and Hay Hill Gallery in London. he also produced 35 marble, iron and stainless steel monumental public sculptures in Istanbul, Tehran, Ankara, Mersin, Mashhad, Edirne, Manama, Muscat, Beirut, Ahwaz, Hurghada, China, Ploiesti, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai, Romania, Taiwan, Jeddah. His works are shown in the Drammen Museum in Norway, the Fletcher Museum in Denmark, the Kirkeby Museum and the Silk Borg Museum in Denmark. his sculptures won him the First prizes in the Dubai International Sculpture Symposium in 2005, the First prizes of Tehran international Sculpture Symposium in 2007, the First prize in Ahwaz International Sculpture Symposium in 2018. Ali is a Curator of Jeddah International Sculpture Symposiums and a Curator of Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium.

Ali Jabbar is working and living in London.


Ali Jabbar is a painter, a sculptor and a graphic designer. He was born in Iraq in 1963, has lived in Denmark from 1992 to 2008 and has a Danish citizenship . Now he lives and works in London. He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad (1982-1987), at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad (1987-1990) and the Graphic Design School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jabbar started his career in art in 1985. Between 1985-2009 he created 5 bronze statues in Iraq and participated in the Baghdad International Biennial, the Cairo Painting Biennial, the Tehran Painting Biennial, the Grand Palais Biennial in Paris and the Sharjah International Biennial.

He participated in many group exhibitions in Denmark, Iraq, Sweden, Austria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunis, UAE, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, USA, Iran, Spain, Bahrain, Turkey, Norway. He also did several solo exhibitions in Denmark, Germany, and Spain. He produced 14 stone and steel monumental works in Turkey, Iran, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, UAE and Germany.

His work was shown in the Drammen Museum in Norway, the Fletcher Museum in Denmark, the Kirkby Museum in Denmark, the Silk Borg Museum in Denmark, the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum and the National Museum in Lithuania.

In 1985 and in 1987 his paintings won him a 1st prize award at the Alwasty Festival in Iraq and his sculptures won him the first prize in Dubai International Sculpture Symposium in 2005 and the Tehran Sculpture Symposium in 2007. In November 2010 he had the solo exhibition at Hay Hill Gallery, Cork Street, Mayfair, London

Artist's Statement

"Everything for me have a tremendous and everlasting existence which keeps us company, as human beings, and is the witness of our life, enabling us to discover the hidden and spectacular side in our personality.

The material world has a strong impact on me. Light and shadow trigger my deepest feelings because they determine the time of the sensation at a particular moment. Therefore I avoid painting them in my work in order not to be associated with a specific time. For I do not belong to a limited time. The source of the light is unknown and the existence of the shadow is hypothetical. It is the fragmentation of many different worlds, which are derived from reality, legends and myths and then reassembled in one spatial place that create an image which expresses a moment of desolation and of non belongingness towards the world in the present moment.

Shapes stand in front of the unknown fate, gazing at the void and feeling its dark background in awe. My paintings show a vivid contrast between what is covered and naked, innocent and corrupt, old and new, tender and coarse. They are created both in an abstract and expressionist as well as in a realistic and surrealistic style. There are always distortions, contradictions, arguments, sarcasm and fear about the unknown.

My paintings display the comparison between the perpetuity of things and the disappearance of the instant sensation which was created accidentally. I am a cosmopolitan human being and heir of all living creatures on earth as well as an extension of them. The ambiguous perception in my depths comes from the vagueness of those extincts of all surviving creatures and my current humanity does not make a progress on them and will not abandon them by nature or instinct."

Ali Jabbar is a contemporary Danish - Iraqi painter and sculptor, recognized for his public sculptures sited across the world, including three monumental bronzes in Iraq. His artistic output also incorporates painting, these interdisciplinary interests and lived experiences, infuse his expansive practice forming cohesive and identifiable visual languages. In sculpture Jabbar creates forms which often express inner feelings of tender relationships of one living thing beside another, the paintings are characteristically unique in their use of colours and tone. The two ways of working flow conceptually into each without effort, the languages somehow unifying these seemingly contrasting disciplines, grappling concepts of matter with ideas, the personal and the universal, the ancient and contemporary, resulting in the production of consistently high quality artworks.

Jabbar has been instrumental in his contributions to numerous sculpture symposiums and key conferences, driving a concept based quality delivery. Leaded the Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, now recognized as one of the best in the wor1d, and which has delivered 60 new monumental artworks to the City.

Brief Bio

Studies - Jabbar studied at the Arts college, the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and The Design School in Copenhagen.

International Biennales - Cairo Painting Biennale, Tehran Biennale, Grand Pal ais Biennial, Paris Sharjah International Biennial. 2015 he participated in the X Florence international Biennale

Group exhibitions- UK, Denmark, Iraq, Sweden, Austria, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, USA, Iran, Spain, Turkey, Czech, Bahrain, and Norway.

Solo Exhibitions- 12 shows including Denmark, Germany, The KM235 Gallery, Hamburg. The Heming Art Museum, Heming 2005 Denmark. The Torre Vella Museum, Salou, Spain 2002. Hay Hill Gallery (including fifty works by the French Artist Auguste Rodin) Mayfair, London.

Public Stone and Steel Sculptures- 24 Public Sculptures installed in Istanbul, Tehran, Ankara, Mersin, Mashhad, Beirut, Edirne, Manama, Copenhagen, Hualien, Muscat, Beirut. Dubai, Ploiesti, Jeddah, Riyadh.

Showcased- The Drammen Museum in Norway. The Fletcher Museum in Denmark. The Kirkeby Museum in Denmark, The Silk Borg Museum in Denmark, The Beirut, The Tehran Contemporary Art Museum.

Awards- 1st prize In Painting 1985 and 1987, Contemporary Alwasiti Festival in Iraq, First prizes in the Dubai International Sculpture Symposium in 2005, Tehran International Sculpture Symposium in 2007, Ahwaz International Sculpture Symposium, 2018.

Monumental sculptures selected for the wor1d's largest sculpture park in Guandou, China.

Monumental sculptures selected for the China aviation collage , China

Curator- The EMMAR International Sculpture Symposium in Dubai in 2005.

Curator- The Red Sea International Sculpture Symposium in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, 2019

2020 The Tuwaiq international sculpture symposium in DQ Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia

2021 The Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium in Jax 3 District, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Jury- Member of the awards for 6th Tehran International Sculpture Symposium 2014.

Jury- Member of the awards for the Annual 7th exhibition of Medical Art Society- London 2022

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